Sony ZV1 - The Perfect Vlogging Camera?

The Sony ZV-1 DSLR camera claims to be the best cameras for vlogging - but does it stack up against the competition?

SONY ZV1 Camera

The Sony ZV-1 is a point-to-shoot camera from Sony. The point-and-shoot format allows for easy mobile filming, such as clamping it on the passenger seat of a car or securing it to a gimbal for walking shots.

When the camera is set to auto mode, the autofocus is fantastic, ensuring footage stays sharp without double checking the viewfinder. Also, the 24-to-70 equivalent lens that comes with the camera is wide enough for most applications.

When it comes to portability, it’s hard to beat the build. The Sony ZV-1 is about the size of a credit card, yet has similar quality to any mirrorless camera, like the Sony A6600 or A6500 DSLR cameras. 

Another advantage to this camera, compared to some of the other offerings from Sony, is the flip out screen. One of the handy applications for this flip out screen is using it as a webcam or a live-streaming camera. 

SONY Display Screen Flipped Out

The Sony ZV-1 has a feature known as “D Focus Mode,” which when selected, turns on the camera’s built-in Natural-Density filter or “ND” filter. This setting blurs out the background allowing for a nice bokeh appearance. This mode intelligently changes the aperture down in-camera to its lowest setting of 1.8 at 24 millimeters and then kicks in the NDs to allow for proper exposure and achieve a blurred out background.

Another handy feature of the Sony ZV-1 that makes it great for vlogging is the “active stabilization,” which is the highest level of stabilization the camera offers. The Sony ZV-1 also has “standard  stabilization,” which only uses the stabilization capabilities of the lens. However, “active stabilization” gives a bit of a crop, but allows for smooth, handheld footage, even when walking and talking.

The form factor of the Sony ZV-1 makes it extremely convenient. The camera is blended with the lens making for an overall easier experience when transporting the camera and recording handheld shots. 

SONY ZV1 - Lens Information

The lens is a 9.4 millimeter to 25.7 millimeter, but when accounting for the crop factor in the sensor size, it’s equivalent to a 24 to 70mm lens, which is generally a good zoom range. Many vloggers might not find this wide enough, however, the tighter the field of view, the more personal the footage feels, while still showing enough background for context.

Although this camera is a 24 to 70mm lens, it also has a special feature that many Sony cameras have, called “Clear Image Zoom.” With the ”Clear Image Zoom,” feature turned on, the camera can achieve a bit more zoom, transforming it from 70mm to about 105mm. This is also available when shooting in 4k.

The Sony ZV-1 has interval capture, giving it the ability to do time-lapses and other long format filming. The camera also has high frame rate recording, meaning it can film up to 120 frames per second or “fps,” in 1080p.

SONY ZV1 - High Frame Rate Display

The camera has a plethora of other fun add-ons, such as “panorama mode,” which is an automatic stitching feature. It also has the ability to tag videos in vertical mode, giving the footage the appearance of being shot on a phone. There is also a built-in feature called soft skin, which is an artificial makeup filter that smooths out imperfections on the face.

There are also more professional features such as “picture profiles.” This allows for filming in “S Log 2,” “S Log 3,” “Hyper log gammas”- all profiles one would expect out of professional cameras, yet packaged in a little point-and-shoot.

SONY ZV1 - Panorama Display

An incredibly important feature for those indie filmmakers with minimal computer storage, is the “Proxy Record Mode.” Sometimes XAVC files are difficult for editing platforms and many computers have issues handling them. The “Proxy Record” feature is able to record smaller video files making rendering times exponentially quicker.

Something that comes with the Sony ZV-1 that isn’t common with point-and-shoot cameras, is a shoe mount for microphones. As shown in the video, Nick is using a wind sock, which works surprisingly well. The camera also has a three capsule microphone that does a pretty good job of eliminating wind noise, as well as surrounding noise.

The sony ZV-1 also has a feature called “Product Showcase,” which is definitely geared towards YouTubers that do product reviews. Essentially, this feature makes the auto-focus intelligently focus on the product and then back to the presenter’s face, without hanging on one or the other too long. 

SONY ZV1 - Shoe Mount

Lastly, the camera has an HDMI output, up to 4k 30p, which is not something one expects to find on a point-and-shoot camera.

Now it’s time to address some of the cons:

The Sony ZV-1 has a 1 inch sensor. Even though it is 21.1 megapixels, which is pretty respectable, it’s impossible to achieve a full frame look. This is because the camera is packing a lot of pixels into a very tiny sensor.

Another downside is the camera must be cropped in order to achieve the best possible stabilization. This means even when holding the camera at full arm's length on a handheld tripod, like the Joby GorillaPod, the result is a relatively tight frame. Because this is meant to be a vlogging camera, having the ability to go just a bit wider would allow for more visually dynamic shots.

SONY ZV1 - 24-70mm Built-in lens

Another major con is its lack of an interchangeable lens. This means the camera can only ever utilize the 24 to 70 equivalent lens that it comes with. 

The battery for the camera is also very small. Sony estimates the battery length to be about 45 minutes to an hour of recording time per battery, when recording in 4k. This is not terrible, however, it does make any sort of long form shooting out of the question.

One of the strangest choices on Sony’s part was the placement of the tripod mount on the camera. Even when mounted on a small tripod, like the Joby Gorillapod, the battery door is completely blocked. Another design build flaw is the placement of the SD card slot inside the battery compartment. While this may have been a space-saving choice to make the camera smaller, it could be a deal-breaker for some people. Similarly, in order to change any settings on the camera, the user must go into the menu. More custom keys for camera settings would’ve made a more user-friendly design for vloggers.

So all in all, is the camera worth it for the price point?

At the time of filming, the Sony ZV-1 retailed for $749. There are definitely quite a few cameras in this price range all jockeying for entry-level filmmakers or YouTube vloggers. However, this camera is the all-in-one solution that can be taken virtually anywhere. For someone trying to do some quick blog style videos or a videographer in need of a quick point-and-shoot, the Sony ZV-1 is an excellent choice.

For someone who is just getting started in filmmaking or looking to branch out in the video world of YouTube or TikTok, this camera is an easy to use, portable option, with just enough advanced features to raise the production value of any project.